Neutralistic approach

As I was going through my Facebook newsfeed, i came across this video- My Choice- which stars Deepika Padukone, and 99 other women. People from India, who are active on social media, or at least watch the news know about how viral this video has become, for those of you who haven’t seen it, here the link.

This video as its title goes talks about women’s freedom to choose whatever she wants; it talks about women empowerment and primarily talks about gender equality. The direction of the video is amazing, mind-blowing and powerful, but the main ambiguous aspect of this video is its content. I want you to watch the video, and have an opinion about it, but in this piece I would like to express my opinion on it.

In the recent light of events taking place in India- India’s Daughter documentary, etc. this video was clearly made against moral pollicising in India, which lies on the far end of male chauvinism. Some statements made in this video are a bit confusing (To have sex outside marriage- My Choice) and the nature of this video borders on the line that separates Feminism and Femi-nazism. The message of the video is simple- let women be free to make their choices and have freedom, but unfortunately it puts its finger on all the wrong places. It questions the fundamental aspect of a relationship rather it questions the very ideals- Trust, Respect ,etc. personally I don’t believe in the movement of male chauvinism, neither do I believe in the movement of Feminism, I believe in some simple ideals which my parent have taught me- respect for the other person regardless of the gender, equality for each and every person and also in opportunity, trust, sincerity towards a person and last but not the least- honesty towards a fellow human being. Each of these above mentioned movements are highly unbalanced they consider the opposite to be unfair, and convey a justification for their ill treatment. This is NOT right, the main aspect we are forgetting in all this is the virtues and ideals our parent give us- Trust, Honesty, Sincerity, Equality and respect- all these aspects are gender neutral and I believe these ideals. I call myself Neutralist, until and unless we start believing in these small but crucial ideals, we CANNOT solve the problem of gender inequality and exploitation. As this video by Deepika Padukone was making its rounds on social media, someone directed a male version of My Choice, which was made in response to her video. Unless we stop lashing at each other, we can’t solve the real problem.

The only way out of this, is to be neutralist- a person who believes in ideals and virtues than any of the movements- which does nothing but enrages the opposite sex.